Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party raises Rs 2.34 lakh in six hours

Once upon a time, an entrepreneur launched a new brand of shoe polish. On the first day of doing business, he sold one can of polish. On the second day, he sold two cans of polish. On the third day, he released advertisements in the newspapers saying, “Sales of Brand X polish doubles in a day.”

The ad told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. One can debate forever whether it is ethical or not – after all, it is advertising, and, as we all know, twisting the truth and hyperbole are accepted in advertising.

Last evening, this image was doing the rounds on social media, especially on Facebook.

The Aam Aadmi Party has proven that they have the ability to spin stories themselves – a skill which will come in handy as they fight the spin of the entrenched political parties.

Six hours, and over one crore raised in donations! That was fantastic – and I was most impressed. Then I began wondering how this happened, wondering about how many individuals had, together, raised such an impressive amount.

And I thought about the shoe polish manufacturer and how all is fair in love and advertising. I remembered a story filed earlier in the day on Firstpost.

“Former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan today donated Rs 1 crore to the newly-launched ‘Aam Aadmi Party’ and said people from all walks of society will sit in Parliament after the 2014 General elections. Bhushan, whose son Prashant is a member of the AAP’s National Executive, donated Rs 1 crore for Arvind Kejriwal’s party at the celebrations to mark its launch,” Firstpost had reported yesterday.

Now I did the math. In six hours, the AAP had raised Rs 1,02,34,000. Of this amount, Mr Shanti Bhushan had donated Rs 1,00,00,000. Which means that the rest of the donors, together, chipped in with a mammoth Rs 2,34,000.

It’s a good augury. The Aam Aadmi Party has proven, through this spin, that they have the ability to spin stories themselves – a skill which will come in handy as they fight the spin of the entrenched political parties.

But while spin is good, they will also need hard cash from real donors to fight the battle they’ve chosen to fight – a lot more cash than Rs 2,34,000